Optical fiber ribbon cables are well known for the transmission of optical signals. Use of optical cables, including optical fiber ribbon cables, has generally been limited to long haul trunking installations where the improved transmission characteristics of the optical fibers justify the greater expense in typical difficulty associated with their manufacturing and installation. As demands on communication media continue to increase, the advantages of using optical cable for transmission of signals across shorter distances or, for interconnecting local devices, continues to grow. With this growth has come a need to connect fiber optic ribbon cables to a multiplicity of devices.
Much development work has been devoted to the provision of practical, low loss glass materials and production techniques for producing glass fiber cable, such as optical fiber ribbon cables. Obviously, if fiber optic cables are to be used in practical signal transmission and processing systems, practical connectors for the connection and disconnection of fiber optic cables must be provided.
Of considerable relevance to the problem of developing practical fiber optic connectors is the question of optical transfer efficiency at the connector. Various factors affect the optic transfer efficiency at a connector including gap separation at the point of abutment, lateral separation due to axial misalignment, and thermal expansion characteristics of connectors.
Numerous optical cable connectors have been developed to aid in the connection of fiber optic ribbon cables. Examples of known multi-fiber connectors include those available under the trade designation the MAC from Berg Electronics and the MT from U.S. Conec. Further examples of optical connectors are illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,420,952 to Katsura, et al.; 5,276,755 to Longhurst; 5,500,915 to Foley et al.; 4,784,457 to Finzell; 5,430,819 to Sizer, II, et al.; and 5,287,426 to Shahid.
Many of the known connectors have disadvantages associated with them. For example, as connectors increase in size to multiple fiber connectors exceeding ten or so fibers, problems with thermal expansion arise. One way to combat this problem has been to use ceramic connectors. This has the drawback, however, of increasing the cost of the connector and increasing the time and effort to manufacture the connector because of the cutting and polishing required of ceramic connectors. Another drawback to the known connectors is that they are of limited compatibility. For instance, an MT connector that utilizes alignment pins would not be compatible with a connector that utilizes alignment balls and sockets.
It would be desirable to provide a connector which is easy to manufacture, inexpensive, and compatible with multiple alignment methods.